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Otasowie makes Premier League debut for Wolves, notches assist in win vs. Chelsea

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Just a month after making his U.S. Men’s National Team debut, Owen Otasowie checked off yet another career milestone on Tuesday and did so in impressive fashion.

Otasowie made his English Premier League debut on Tuesday, coming on as a halftime substitute and registering an assist in Wolves’ 2-1 win over Christian Pulisic and Chelsea. The 19-year-old helped his side to an important three points at home.

After coming in to start the second half, Otasowie used his physicality in the box to help Wolves tie things up at Molineux. The midfielder won his header off a cross into the box, which fell comfortably to Daniel Podence, who beat Edouard Mendy to the top corner.

 

Pedro Neto’s 96th-minute winner handed Wolves its first head-to-head victory over Chelsea since December 2018 and also snapped a two-match losing streak in the process.

Otasowie not only assisted on the equalizing goal, but played a solid role in his defensive midfield position. He recorded four interceptions, three recoveries, completed two tackles, and was fouled once in his first senior appearance for Wolves this season.

The 19-year-old made his senior debut for the USMNT back in a 0-0 draw with Wales in November and now could see more playing time after impressing at club level.

The loss was a crushing one for Chelsea, but a silver lining for the Blues was Pulisic completing his first 90-minute appearance in Premier League play since July, and first full match since October against Sevilla in Champions League play.

Comments

  1. I continue to find it hilarious that some fans waste their time getting mad about players who will make up the back end of any roster for a big tourney(roldan, yueill)when at the end of the day only but so many of players on said roster are going to play anyway. If you follow bog tourney’s the full roster is never used because you don’t have time to play everyone! So why the need to cry about players tht will ot influence games anyway? And this incessant need to keep crying about Lleget, who has been one of the best USMNT players for about a year now, and his appearance as the ONLY domestic player in a camp full of or euros! Maybe he was called in because the Galaxy were eliminated from the MLS playoffs, and considering Pulisic can’t stay healthy long enough to be a veteran presence on the field in a camp GB wanted a player that’s a great mentor on and off the field amongst mostly youth players. Either way, the constant bitching about a few MLS players has become laughable and bordering toxic!

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    • I get your point about people needing to relax…but…2 things: Pulisics injury history and Altidore getting injured in the first game of the last workd cup we played in emphasizes the need for a full roster of capable players. Ive been impressed by Lletget and Yuells passing ability in the last rounds of games. Mix Diskerud was the only field player not to play in that world cup and our lack of depth was exposed as soon as Altidore went down. 2. I can’t wait to see the state of US soccer in such a place that filling out the roster is legitimately a tough decision because big contributors in big leagues are left off in place of bigger contributors in bigger leagues. Competition for roster spots AND playing time is a good thing. You only have to look at the roster of US players in the championship league this year to see we are getting closer.

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  2. The kid is a physical presence on the field. Not bad for a first Premier League debut. Some more options going forward for the national team. I think he will definitely be in Olympic qualifying and added depth to the senior squad going forward. Hopefully he can keep earning minutes.

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  3. Gregg & USSF sitting at home thinking “Damn all these kids getting minutes in top leagues & clubs. How are we going to keep justifying calling up Bradley & Roldan if they keep this up.”
    USMNT Fans watching and realizing we finally have have options and depth within the USMNT. We may finally be able to have a truly competitive team that can actually rotate players and/or not see a drastic decline in play if someone gets injured.

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    • When are these posts going to stop???!!
      Bradley was not even called up for the December camp that included only 16 out of 26 MLS teams. Likewise, Roldan is not going to play over someone playing well and consistently for a top level team. This whole notion that Gregg will play MLS players no matter what is a creation of Eurosnobs and it’s being perpetuated by many in the comments section here and elsewhere.

      That being said, I would still expect Top level MLS standouts to be called up over someone playing in Scotland, Belgium or Serie B, all else being equal. And rightly so

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      • And rightly so?! What on earth gives you the idea that a top MLS “standout” (which, ahem, Cristian Roldan, Jackson Y, Wil Trapp, and a number of others on the SBI depth chart are not) should be called up over someone playing in Scotland or Belgium? I’ll give you Serie B, but if you think MLS is equal to or better than those leagues, you’re not being realistic. MLS is doing great for its age and is continuing to improve, but posts like those make me shake my head – it reeks of overcompensation to euro-snobbery.

      • Didn’t GB call Lletget all the way from California to play in Europe?
        Lletget took playing time away from Euro kids that actually play the forward position.

      • Posts like this will stop when…and only when, Gregg proves that Bradley, Roldan, Ream, and the rest are not part of the team.
        So long as Gregg and analysts like Lalas believe that these types of players still have a place in the team than the posts will continue.
        @Dennis – “There is no one who thinks that the players who played for the USMNT in 2016 are likely starters in 2022″….I think Pulisic & Brooks are a pretty good bets to be a starters in 2022 and they had 11 Caps each in 2016. Miazga, Morris, Yedlin, & Zardes all had caps in 2016 and are potential/situational starters for 2022.

      • MLS apologist on this site kill me like Yev???‍♂️! Lost in Space is right! Roldan ?is also besura grande! He was a hazard against concaf teams like Canada and Jamaica lol. He has done nothing for Nats. Sound the trumpets here comes the Mls apologist to defend Roldan.

      • Don’t be so sure. After all, he did call Lletget even when he didn’t have to.
        So, there is a chance he may bring an MLSer over an up-and-coming youngster from a top 5 league.

    • OK, we all get it, You do not like GB. Get over it. There is no one who thinks that the players who played for the USMNT in 2016 are likely starters in 2022. The young generation is just much better that the generation who could not replace Altidore, Bradley, etc. It is not selection to the USMNT that develops players, it is how the players progress at their clubs and how good those club teams are.

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    • @Gabe.
      I wouldn’t consider Yuell and Roldan to be big MLS standouts. They are definitely higher level than average, but standouts are Best XI type level. Like Aaron Long from 2 years ago. Like Zardes scoring 20 goals a year. Like Adams.

      Don’t get me started on Scotland! Top-to-bottom MLS is definitely better than SPL. That’s why even among Eurosnobs you are not seeing calls for Ian Harkes to be called up despite the fact that he is a constant starter for a team in 5th place. He couldn’t get much playing time for a lowly DC United

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